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Civic Service for Arabs Findings of Attitude Surveys of Arab Public and Leaders in Fall 2007 . Prof. Sammy Smooha The Jewish-Arab Center, University of Haifa The 8 th Herzlia Conference, January 23, 2008. Arab Public Opinion Surveys.
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Civic Service for ArabsFindings of Attitude Surveys of Arab Public and Leaders in Fall 2007 Prof. Sammy Smooha The Jewish-Arab Center, University of Haifa The 8th Herzlia Conference, January 23, 2008
Arab Public Opinion Surveys • State-wide representative, telephone surveys of the Arab public and leadership (without the Druze) • Data-collection: October-November 2007, Statistical Consulting Unit, the University of Haifa • With participation of Dr. Nohad Ali, the University of Haifa and Yizrael Valley College • The population survey (910 respondents) • Public (23 years and older) (500) • Parents to children 18-22 years old (204) • Youth 16-22 years old (206) • The leadership survey (78 respondents) • Public figures affiliated to Jewish establishment (27) • Public figures not affiliated to Jewish establishment (51)
Attitudes of Arab Public versus Attitudes of Independent Arab Leaders
Conclusions • Civic service has become a key bone of contention between the state and the Arab leaders who are not affiliated to the Jewish establishment • The majority of the Arab public is still not aware of the civic service project because of its newness • The majority of the Arab public, parents to youth, youth, and leaders affiliated to Jewish establishment support civic service because of its benefits to Arab youth and sector
Conclusions (Continued) • Supporters regard volunteering to civic service as personal activity beneficial to the individual and community and to be decided personally, while opponents see it as participation in a project inimical to the Arab-national interest that requires consideration of the Arab leadership’s position • Arab public figures not affiliated to Jewish establishment oppose civic service because it may become mandatory, facilitate Israelization, blur the Arab-national identity and promotes reconciliation to the Jewish-Zionist nature of the state, and because they do not control and runs counter to the search after non-territorial autonomy for the Arab minority
Conclusions (End) • The project may succeed if accompanied by a campaign for explaining its benefits to Arab individuals and communities, if remains voluntary, if the promised benefits are delivered and if recruitment is limited to several thousands volunteers per year • The campaign against the project would reduce its mass support but would not cause its downfall